WAINFLEET - Amy Cefalu, Jennifer Schmitt and their children made the trek from Buffalo to cool off in the sun at Long Beach.

On a day when the humidity made it feel like it was more than 30°C, many people travelled to south Niagara's beaches to beat the heat. For the Cefalu and Schmitt families, after learning about Niagara Region's call for high levels of E. coli bacteria in Lake Erie, they second guessed whether or not to stay at the crowded beach.

"It is concerning," Cefalu said. "We're from New York state and the water stinks down there. We thought the water looked cleaner up here. In New York they closed many beaches because it was unsafe."

Over at Nickel Beach in Port Colborne, Thorold's Cheryl Hiscoe was playing in the water with her child and his friends. Hiscoe doesn't seem to mind the warning that it was unsafe to swim, stating the water in Lake Erie is cleaner than that of Lake Ontario surrounding Port Dalhousie.

On Thursday, the public health department posted 10 beaches in the region with water deemed unsafe to swim in. Of the 10 beaches, seven are located in south Niagara: Port Colborne's Humberstone Centennial Park Beach and Nickel Beach, Wainfleet's Long Beach and both Long Beach Conservation East and West, Wainfleet Lake Erie Public Access, and Fort Erie's Waverly Beach.

Bill Hunter, manager of environmental health for the region, said it is unusual to have so many beaches deemed unsafe to swim in at one time. He attributes the high level of E. coli present in the water to recent heavy rainfall.

"We're much more likely to see higher levels after rain," Hunter said. "Debris will get washed and swirled around in the water. As an advisory we don't recommend people going into the water."

Hunter said swimming in the water can cause eye, ear, nose, skin and throat infections as well as diarrhea if water is ingested. Young children are particularly susceptible to the symptoms when playing in the water.

Hunter said many people visit the region's website (www.niagararegion.ca/living/water/beaches) to research before deciding whether to travel to local beaches.

While infections are problematic for people who swim in contaminated waters, there hasn't been an increase in visitation at area clinics.

Dr. Artaj Singh, medical director at Urgent Care Niagara's Welland location said he hasn't seen any patients with bacterial infections at the clinic at Seaway Mall.

"If it's high bacteria count it may take two to three days for symptoms to appear," Singh said. "We see the run-of-the-mill ear infection but it's nothing out of the ordinary."

It's the same over at Port Colborne hospital. Niagara Health System spokesperson Caroline Bourque Wiley said there hasn't been any increases in visitation as a result of bacterial infections from swimming.